Gum receptacle having attaching and detaching means

ABSTRACT

A gum receptacle has a case defining a space for receiving gums and a lid connected to the case by a hinge. An attaching and detaching device for attaching and detaching the case to and from a support element is provided on a predetermined portion of the case. The gum receptacle can be attached to and detached from the support element, irrespective of a place, such as at home, in an office or inside a vehicle. As a gum can be easily taken out of the gum receptacle, user convenience is rendered.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention

[0002] The present invention relates, in general, to a gum receptacleand, more particularly, to a gum receptacle which is constructed to beattached to and detached from a support element, irrespective of aplace, such as at home, in an office or inside a vehicle, so that a gumcan be easily taken out of the gum receptacle, thereby rendering userconvenience.

[0003] 2. Description of the Prior Art

[0004] Generally, chewing gums in the number of 5 to 7 are packed bypacking paper in a state wherein each of them is wrapped by silver paperor vinyl. Recently, a gum receptacle defining a space in which the gumpackage or individually wrapped gums can be received has been disclosedin the art.

[0005] Referring to FIG. 10, there is shown an exploded perspective viewillustrating the conventional gum receptacle. The gum receptacle 1 iscomposed of a lid 2 and a case 4 for receiving gums therein. The lid 2and the case 4 are threadedly coupled to and decoupled from each other.

[0006] The conventional gum receptacle 1 has a flat bottom wall, andtherefore, the gum receptacle 1 must be placed on a flat surface or heldupright by a suitable support member (not shown).

[0007] Consequently, in the case that the gum receptacle is used in amotor vehicle, the gum receptacle must be maintained in a predeterminedbox or at a place where vibration is generated to a reduced degree.

[0008] The conventional gum receptacle 1 constructed as mentioned abovesuffers from defects in that it causes inconvenience and danger,particularly, to a person driving a vehicle. In other words, when theperson desires to chew a gum, it is necessary to take out the gumreceptacle 1 from a storing place, threadedly open the lid 2, pull out agum, close the lid 2, and replace the gum receptacle 1 to the originalstoring place. In this regard, even when the gum receptacle 1 is placedclose to a driver's seat, the above-described procedure which should beconducted to chew the gum causes inconvenience and danger to the driver.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[0009] Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mindthe above problems occurring in the prior art, and an object of thepresent invention is to provide a gum receptacle which is constructed tobe attached to and detached from a support element, irrespective of aplace, such as at home, in an office or inside a vehicle so that a gumcan be easily taken out of the gum receptacle, thereby rendering userconvenience.

[0010] In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect ofthe present invention, there is provided a gum receptacle comprising acase defining a space for receiving gums, a lid connected to the case bya hinge, and attaching and detaching means provided on a predeterminedportion of the case so as to attach and detach the case to and from asupport element.

[0011] The support element includes an article or a portion of anarticle to and from which the gum receptacle according to the presentinvention may be required to be attached and detached.

[0012] The attaching and detaching means preferably includes a magnet, adouble-sided adhesive tape, etc.

[0013] When the attaching and detaching means comprises a magnet, it ispreferred that each of the support element and the gum receptaclecomprises a magnetic piece, or a non-magnetic or non-metallic piece towhich a magnetic member is secured.

[0014] Each of the magnetic piece and the magnetic member means anarticle made of a material which has a property capable of beingattracted by the magnet, for example, such as Fe, Co, Ni and alloysthereof.

[0015] While the magnet may be provided outside the gum receptacle, itis preferred that the magnet is provided inside the gum receptacle. Ifthe magnet is provided outside the gum receptacle, when taking the gumreceptacle into and out of a pocket, annoyance is caused, and also,since the magnet is adhered to the gum receptacle by an adhesive or thelike, the possibility of the magnet to be released is increased.

[0016] It is preferred that a bottom wall of the case is formed to havea slope. In a state wherein the sloped bottom wall of the case isattached to a vertical surface of the support element, the gumreceptacle is held sloped in an upward or downward direction. Inparticular, if the gum receptacle is attached to the support element sothat the lid is directed upward, when compared to another receptaclewhich is horizontally attached to the support element, a user can easilytake contents out of the receptacle, details of which will be describedin a preferred embodiment of the present invention given below.

[0017] Further, it is preferred that a plurality of protrusions areformed on a circumferential outer surface of the case.

[0018] The protrusions prevent slippage from occurring when the case isgrasped by the hand, and render finger-pressure therapy.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

[0019] The above and other objects, features and other advantages of thepresent invention will be more clearly understood from the followingdetailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

[0020]FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a gum receptacle inaccordance with a first embodiment of the present invention;

[0021]FIG. 2 is an explanatory view illustrating a coupling relationshipbetween the gum receptacle according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention and a support element made of a magnetic material;

[0022]FIG. 3 is an explanatory view illustrating a coupling relationshipbetween the gum receptacle according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention and a support element made of a non-magnetic material;

[0023]FIG. 4 is an explanatory view illustrating a procedure in whichthe gum receptacle according to the first embodiment of the presentinvention and a support element are coupled with each other by means ofa double-sided adhesive tape;

[0024]FIG. 5 is an explanatory view illustrating a coupling relationshipbetween a gum receptacle in accordance with a second embodiment of thepresent invention and a support element;

[0025]FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a gum receptacle inaccordance with a third embodiment of the present invention;

[0026]FIG. 7 is a side view of FIG. 6;

[0027]FIGS. 8 and 9 are a perspective view and a sectional view,respectively, illustrating a state wherein the gum receptacle accordingto the third embodiment of the present invention is attached to asupport element; and

[0028]FIG. 10 is an exploded perspective view illustrating theconventional gum receptacle.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0029] Reference will now be made in greater detail to a preferredembodiment of the invention, an example of which is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numeralswill be used throughout the drawings and the description to refer to thesame or like parts.

[0030]FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a gum receptacle inaccordance with a first embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 isan explanatory view illustrating a coupling relationship between the gumreceptacle according to the first embodiment of the present inventionand a support element made of a magnetic material. FIG. 3 is anexplanatory view illustrating a coupling relationship between the gumreceptacle according to the first embodiment of the present inventionand a support element made of a non-magnetic material. FIG. 4 is anexplanatory view illustrating a procedure in which the gum receptacleaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention and a supportelement are coupled with each other by means of a double-sided adhesivetape. FIG. 5 is an explanatory view illustrating a coupling relationshipbetween a gum receptacle in accordance with a second embodiment of thepresent invention and a support element.

[0031] As shown in FIG. 1, a gum receptacle 10 according to the presentinvention, which is constructed to be capable of being attached anddetached to and from a support element 20, includes a case 11, a lid 12,a hinge 13, a magnet 14 and a grip 16.

[0032] While the present invention is not limited to specificconfigurations of the case 11, it is preferred that the case 11 has acylindrical configuration. If the case 11 has a polygonal configurationsuch as of a triangle and a quadrangle, when taking the received gumsout of the case 11, the hand or finger is likely to be injured orinconvenience is caused.

[0033] The support element 20 means an article to and from which the gumreceptacle of the present invention will be attached and detached, forexample, such as a refrigerator, an inside panel of a motor vehicle, adesk, and the like.

[0034] In FIG. 1, it is to be noted that the magnet 14 is provided on abottom wall of the case 11. While not shown in the drawings, a groovehaving a size corresponding to the magnet 14 is defined on the bottomwall of the case 11, and the magnet 14 is accommodated in the groove.The reason for this is to prevent the contents received in thereceptacle from being damaged by the presence of the magnet 14. That isto say, when the magnet 14 is provided in the case 11, it is preferredthat the magnet 14 does not project from a surface of the case 11.

[0035] The grip 16 is formed to allow the lid 12 to be easily openedusing the finger.

[0036] In the present invention, in order to ensure easy opening andclosing of the lid 12, it is preferred that a depression is definedadjacent to an upper end of the case 11 at a position corresponding tothe grip 16 of the lid 12.

[0037] The depression is defined to allow the finger to be insertedtherein to thereby conveniently manipulate the grip 16.

[0038] It is preferred that the depression is defined to have a depthwhich is gradually increased toward the upper end of the case 11.

[0039] As shown in FIG. 2, in the case that the support element 20 acomprises a magnetic piece, by providing the magnet 14 to the gumreceptacle 10, it is possible to attach and detach the gum receptacle 10to and from the support element 20 a. However, in the case that thesupport element 20 a comprises a non-magnetic piece, it is impossible toattach and detach the gum receptacle 10 to and from the support element20 a according to the above-described way. In this consideration, thepresent inventor devised a construction as shown in FIG. 3. Namely, inthis construction, after the non-magnetic piece 20 b and a magneticmember 22 are bonded to each other by a bonding material 21, by couplingand decoupling the gum receptacle 10 to and from the magnetic member 22,it is possible to attach and detach the gum receptacle 10 to and fromthe support element 20 b comprising the non-magnetic piece.

[0040] In an example, the bonding material 21 may comprise adouble-sided adhesive tape, a bond, an adhesive, etc.

[0041] While it was described that the gum receptacle 10 and the supportelement 20 are attached to and detached from each other by way of themagnets 14 and 14′, a person skilled in the art will readily recognizethat other attaching and detaching members can be employed.

[0042] A preferred attaching and detaching member is a double-sidedadhesive tape which is covered on both surfaces thereof by a pair ofbacking sheets, respectively.

[0043] More concretely speaking in this connection, as shown in FIG. 4,one backing sheet 15 b which is provided to one surface of thedouble-sided adhesive tape 15 is removed, and then, the exposed surfaceof the double-sided adhesive tape 15 is attached to a lower surface ofthe case 11. Thereafter, the other backing sheet 15 b which is providedto the other surface of the double-sided adhesive tape 15 is removed,and then, the exposed surface of the double-sided adhesive tape 15 isattached to the support element 20. In this way, the gum receptacle 10can be detachably attached to the support element 20.

[0044] In these ways, as occasion demands, it is possible to attach anddetach the gum receptacle 10 to and from the support element 20.

[0045] In the present invention, the attaching and detaching means, thatis, the magnet 14 or the double-sided adhesive tape 15 can be providedto the bottom wall as well as a side wall as shown in FIG. 5, of thecase 11. In the latter case, the lid 12 is directed upward.

[0046] If the side wall of the gum receptacle 10 is attached to anddetached from the vertical surface of the support element which ispositioned close to the driver, the driver can easily take the contentsout of the gum receptacle 10 using the hand.

[0047]FIG. 6 is a perspective view illustrating a gum receptacle inaccordance with a third embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 7 is aside view of FIG. 6.

[0048] In the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, it ispreferred that the bottom wall of the case 11 is formed to have a slope.That is to say, in a state wherein the bottom wall of the case 11 is notsloped, the case 11 has a rectangular or a square sectional shape.However, in a state wherein the bottom wall of the case 11 is formed tohave a slope, the case 11 has substantially two trapezoidal sectionalshapes of which one side extends along an oblique path.

[0049] When the case 11 of the present invention is viewed on itslongitudinal section, the case 11 may have the trapezoidal sectionalshape as well as other sectional shapes of quadrangles (including arhombus, a parallelogram, etc.). If the bottom surface of the case 11 isformed to have a slope as described above, a height of the side wall ofthe case 11 is gradually changed along a circumferential direction. Inother words, the case 11 has a minimum height and a maximum height.

[0050] It is preferred that the hinge 13 according to the presentinvention is provided to a portion of the side wall which has theminimum height. The reason for this will be described with reference toFIGS. 8 and 9.

[0051]FIGS. 8 and 9 are a perspective view and a sectional view,respectively, illustrating a state wherein the gum receptacle accordingto the third embodiment of the present invention is attached to asupport element.

[0052] In a state wherein the gum receptacle 10 is attached to thevertical surface of the support element 20 such that the a portion ofthe side wall which has the maximum height is positioned at bottom andthe portion of the side wall which has the minimum height is positionedat top, the gum receptacle 10 is directed upward at a predeterminedangle. Also, when the lid 12 hingedly connected to the gum receptacle 10is completely opened, the lid 12 is maintained parallel to the ground.

[0053] Here, when the lid 12 is opened, the lid 12 must be held at leastparallel to the ground. Namely, it is preferred that the lid 12 isprovided in such a way as to be opened at least parallel to the ground.If the lid 12 is opened not to reach parallel to the ground, annoyanceis caused when taking the contents out of the gum receptacle 10 usingthe hand.

[0054] If the hinge 13 is provided to the portion of the side wall whichhas the minimum height, the driver can easily open the lid 12 by pullingforward the grip 16 using a distal end of the finger and easily closethe lid 12 by slightly pressing the lid 12 using the finger. That is tosay, in the case of an ordinary person, especially, a driver, it is moreconvenient to close the lid 12 by pressing the lid 12 rather thanraising the lid 12. In particular, in the case of a driver, it is moreadvantageous that the hinge 13 is provided to the portion of the sidewall which has the minimum height to pivotally support the lid 12.

[0055] Also, in the present invention, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, it ispreferred that a plurality of protrusions 17 are formed on acircumferential outer surface of the case 10′ so as to prevent slippagefrom occurring when the case 11 is grasped by the hand and renderfinger-pressure therapy.

[0056] As apparent from the above description, the gum receptacleaccording to the present invention provides advantages in that the gumreceptacle can be attached to and detached from a support element,irrespective of a place, such as at home, in an office or inside avehicle. Further, since a gum can be easily taken out of the gumreceptacle, user convenience is rendered.

[0057] Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has beendescribed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art willappreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions arepossible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the inventionas disclosed in the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A gum receptacle comprising: a case defining aspace for receiving gums; a lid connected to the case by a hinge; andattaching and detaching means provided on a predetermined portion of thecase so as to attach and detach the case to and from a support element.2. The gum receptacle as set forth in claim 1, wherein a bottom wall ofthe case is formed to have a slope.
 3. The gum receptacle as set forthin claim 2, wherein a plurality of protrusions are formed on acircumferential outer surface of the case to allow the case to be easilygrasped.
 4. The gum receptacle as set forth in claim 1, wherein theattaching and detaching means comprises a double-sided adhesive tape. 5.The gum receptacle as set forth in claim 1, wherein the attaching anddetaching means comprises a magnet which detachably couples the casecomprising a magnetic piece or a magnetic member to the support element.6. The gum receptacle as set forth in claim 5, wherein the magnet isprovided inside the case.
 7. The gum receptacle as set forth in claim 1,wherein a plurality of protrusions are formed on a circumferential outersurface of the case to allow the case to be easily grasped.